“Do not be afraid to go out on a limb…that’s where the fruit is.” Anonymous Here I am, going out on a very long limb, freely admitting that despite living among trees, earning…

If you’ve ever seen chevrons on the bark of an American beech, you know you’re looking at a tree that’s been hugged by a black bear. And you’ve likely been impressed with the…

This isn’t a trail blaze. What is the circular white spot (and the other smaller white spots) on the bark of this sugar maple tree?

I was raised Catholic and followed the protocol closely up through Confirmation and into my teenage years before I lapsed. My current relationship with the Church is like the one you might have with…

When I was about age 10, Mrs. Garvey assigned an essay to read on opossums. Never mind that we lived 3,000 miles from the nearest actual opossum; I was 10 and one did not question the logic of the…

So here’s my movie concept: during a laboratory accident, a scientist exchanges his DNA with a fly. Over the next few weeks, our hero slowly shrinks in size and transforms into an insect with…

In these days of governmental gridlock, it is difficult to imagine government agencies cooperating to do anything that is even slightly complicated. But it hasn’t always been that way. From 1971…

River otters are the most aquatic members of the weasel family. They can swim up to six or seven miles per hour on the surface of the water as well as underneath it, and can remain submerged for up to…

Gaultheria procumbens goes by many common names – checkerberry, teaberry, and boxberry. But it is most often called American wintergreen. Even those unfamiliar with the plant will recognize its…

I still remember my childhood excitement when my grandfather explained to me what those holes were in the deep snow. “Snow roosts,” he explained, and they’re made when a ruffed…

This image was taken last December from the summit of Mt. Mansfield, Vermont’s highest peak. “The summit had been covered in clouds all morning while I was hiking up.” says…

Castle Freeman wrote here recently [“Easy Wood,” Autumn 2017] about his prolonged tussle with a major limb that had separated from an old butternut tree in his backyard...a job that proved…

My three children have participated in a Four Winds Nature Institute program that recruits adult family members to lead grade-school nature learning. I have worked with several moms and dads over the…

It’s sales season on Christmas tree farms and, borrowing from Dave Mance’s “Dispatches from the Sugarwoods” that regularly appear in this space during the spring, here’s…

What are these white bits on the moss-covered rock?

Plants and trees are seldom considered to have acute senses – at least, not like those of many mammals. But scientists at the University of Western Australia discovered that plants have far more…

In your November photos, a bear waved, a squirrel sunbathed, and a mature buck faced down the camera. Ducks swam through foliage reflected on water, and hikers explored an old quarry. We’re now…

I followed a stream downhill through the woods as it coursed through a small ravine. At the base of the hill, just before the brook entered a wetland, a patch of unusual-looking plants was growing…

Like many people who watch birds, I have my favorites. The nuthatches, for instance. Quirky little birds. Shaped like stubby cigars, with their short tails and thick necks. And that disconcerting…

Hunting is portrayed idyllically by those who love it – you can see it here in this beautiful PR shot from the Fish and Wildlife department. The eager young lad and the sage mentor, likely his…